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Trojans win OT thriller vs. FAMU

Adrenaline was dripping from the ceiling in the Lincoln High gymnasium Tuesday night.

It puddled on the floor, oozed onto fans, pooled on the coaches and referees, and coursed through player’s veins.

FAMU DRS jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead by making its first seven 3-pointers and eight in the first quarter, but Lincoln stormed back in a frenetic second-half affair and forced overtime.

And just before the overtime buzzer sounded, Trojans forward Nick Baxter cleaned up a missed layup from JahVaughn Powell with a lefty putback off the glass to give Lincoln a 75-74 victory.

“It felt really great, man,” said Baxter, who was immediately mobbed by students. “I felt really confident when I got the ball because it was tipped up twice, so when I got it I threw it up and knew it was going in. I’ve never had a moment like that.”

Lincoln’s victory was made possible by Kameron Mack’s 29-point effort, which included six huge 3s over the final two quarters to claw back from a giant deficit.

FAMU DRS guards J.T. Escobar and Tre Anderson lit their net on fire in the first quarter, scoring 25 of the team’s 28 points. Escobar drilled his first five 3s, and Anderson hit two while shiftily splitting defenders to hit a layup and a short range jumper.

“It wasn’t time to panic,” said Lincoln coach Dimitric Salters.

“It’s kind of overwhelming when they keep hitting 3s,” Mack said. “You don’t know how you’re going to adjust to it. But we came into halftime with the attitude, ‘Let’s get it done.’”

Lincoln (11-5) first needed to stop the bleeding, which required intensifying its pressure defense and three-quarter court traps. The Trojans forced 15 turnovers in the second half, including 10 in the final quarter, which coincided with Mack rising up to knock down every open look he got. Lincoln’s Tre Thomas kicked in four big 3s.

“We can’t let one player get hot and get going,” Rattlers coach Gene Granger said. “We have to put a stop to it. And then we need to play smarter towards the end of a game or when it gets tight. We had a tough time getting the ball in. We turned it over and they made a lot of shots off of those turnovers.”

Escobar scored 26 and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Anderson poured in a game-high 31 points for the Rattlers (11-8). The two sharpshooters were a combined 15 of 19 on free throws on the night, but neither made a field goal in the final quarter or overtime.

With four minutes left in regulation Powell (16 points, seven assists, five steals) tied the game at 56-56 with two free throws and a back-and-forth run to the finish ensued. The lead would change seven times as time wound down to Powell’s final run at the basket with 10 seconds left. His look was guarded well, but Baxter found the perfect time for his only field goal of the game.

“Luckily our big got the rebound and scored a bucket to win the game,” said Mack, watching nervously from the bench. “It would have been a tough loss, but I’m glad I’ve got these guys on my side. I knew we could battle through adversity. I love these guys and I knew we could come back from a 16-point deficit at half and win this thing.”